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Avery: Welcome to Astronomy Daily, the podcast that

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brings you the universe, one story at a time.

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I'm Avery.

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Anna: And I'm Anna. It's great to be with you.

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We've got a packed episode today, from major

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moves in the space industry to a potential

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solution for one of the biggest mysteries in

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cosmology.

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Avery: Let's start with that industry news. It's a

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big one. Blue Origin has just hired Tory

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Bruno, the former president and CEO of

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United Launch alliance, or ula.

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Anna: That's a major headline. Bruno is a giant in

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the industry. He's going to be heading up

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Blue Origin's new national Security group.

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Avery: Exactly. And it makes so much sense when you

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think about it. Bruno was instrumental in

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transitioning ULA to its new Vulcan rocket.

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And what engines does the Vulcan rocket use?

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Anna: Blue Origin's BE4 engines. It's all

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connected. This move signals that Blue Origin

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is getting very serious about competing for

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those lucrative national security launch

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contracts. Especially with their new Glenn

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Heavy Heavy Lift rocket on the horizon.

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Avery: It's a strategic chess move. Bringing in

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someone with Bruno's experience and

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connections is a clear sign of their ambition

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in that sector.

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Anna: Speaking of ambitions, let's shift from the

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business of space to one of its greatest.

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Dark matter. A, uh, new study is proposing a

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fascinating, if somewhat exotic idea.

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Avery: I'm always ready for a new dark matter

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theory. What's this one?

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Anna: Well, instead of tiny undiscovered particles,

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this theory suggests dark matter could be

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made of giant star sized objects that don't

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emit light. They're calling them exotic

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Astrophysical dark objects, or

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IADs.

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Avery: IADs. I like it. So what would these

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objects be?

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Anna: Things like boson stars or cue balls.

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Very dense theoretical objects. The really

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cool part is how we might find them. If One

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of these IADs passes in front of a distant

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star, its immense gravity would bend the

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starlight in a very specific way.

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Avery: Right. Gravitational lensing.

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Anna: Exactly. But a very specific kind.

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Instead of just brightening, the star's

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apparent position in the sky would seem to

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jump suddenly. It's a unique signal. And

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researchers think they can hunt for these

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jumps in the massive data set from the Gaia

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Space Telescope. It's a long shot, but it's a

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testable hypothesis.

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Avery: From hunting for invisible objects to

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tracking a very visible one.

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Let's talk about Asteroid Apophis.

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Anna: Ah, yes, everyone's favorite God of chaos,

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asteroid. It's making a very close pass by

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Earth in 2029.

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Avery: An incredibly close pass just

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32,000km away. Which is closer than

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some of our satellites. And to take advantage

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of this rare opportunity, the European Space

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Agency and Japan's JAXA are teaming up for a

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new mission called Ramses.

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Anna: So what's the goal of Ramses?

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Avery: The mission will get up close to the 375

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meter wide asteroid to study how Earth's

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gravity affects it. During the fly, expect

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our planet's gravity to cause changes in

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apophisis spin, maybe even trigger some

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landslides or quakes on its surface.

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Anna: And understanding those gravitational effects

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is crucial for planetary defense. If we ever

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need to nudge an asteroid out of the way, we

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need to know precisely how it will behave.

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This kind of international cooperation is

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exactly what we need for ensuring space

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safety.

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Avery: That's right.

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And speaking of understanding the cosmos on a

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grand scale, let's talk about all the stuff

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that isn't in asteroids or even galaxies.

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I'm talking about normal matter, the stuff

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that makes up you, me and the stars. It turns

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out we've been missing most of it.

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Anna: This is one of my favorite cosmological

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problems. The Big Bang theory predicts a

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certain amount of normal matter in the

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universe. But when we add up all the stars

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and galaxies we can see, we only find about

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10% of it. So where's the other

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90%?

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Avery: For a long time, the theory has been that

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it's hiding in the vast spaces between

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galaxies in a hot, thin soup of

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gas called the intergalactic med. It's often

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called the cosmic web. But it's so

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diffuse that it's been nearly impossible to

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detect directly.

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Anna: Until now. Right. This is where fast radio

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bursts come in.

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Avery: Precisely. A new study used these

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powerful millisecond long blasts of radio

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waves from distant galaxies as probes. As

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an FRB signal travels across billions of

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light years, it gets slightly dispersed by

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the gas it passes through. By measuring how

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much the signal is smeared out, astronomers

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can calculate how much matter it encountered.

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Anna: And the results confirmed the theory.

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Avery: They did. The numbers match perfectly.

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The missing matter was in the cosmic web all

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along. It's a huge victory for cosmology.

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We've finally completed the census of normal

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matter in the universe.

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Anna: That is incredible.

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From the cosmic web, let's zoom back in. Much

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closer to home, the chaotic space between the

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Earth and the Moon.

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Avery: It's an area that's about to get a lot busier

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with programs like Artemis and the Lunar

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Gateway.

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Anna: Right. And navigating that space is

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notoriously difficult because of the complex

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shifting gravitational pulls of the Earth,

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Moon and Sun. It's the classic three body

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problem. So to help future missions,

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researchers at ah, Lawrence Livermore

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Laboratory have done something amazing.

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Avery: What's that?

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Anna: They've created and released an open source

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Data set mapping 1 million different stable

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trajectories in that cis lunar space,

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being called a gold standard map that

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companies and space agencies can use to

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validate their navigation software.

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Avery: So it's essentially a comprehensive roadmap

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for the Earth Moon system that's invaluable.

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It helps identify stable regions like the

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Lagrange Points, where we could place future

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infrastructure like the Lunar Gateway. It's a

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foundational piece of work for the next era

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of lunar exploration.

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Anna: Absolutely.

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And before we go today, let's take a brief

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look at some of the major astronomical events

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to look out for in 2026 is just around

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the corner.

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Avery: I love these previews. What's the biggest

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highlight?

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Anna: Without a doubt, the total solar eclipse. On

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August 12, the path of totality will cross

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over Greenland, Iceland and parts of Spain.

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It's going to be a major event for

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skywatchers in Europe and for those.

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Avery: Of us in North America. We get a treat a few

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months earlier, a total lunar eclipse on

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March 3, 2026.

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Anna: There's more, too. Jupiter's moons will enter

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a mutual eclipse season, meaning we can watch

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them pass in front of and behind another. And

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both the Perseid and Gemini meteor showers

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are expected to have excellent viewing

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conditions with no bright moon to wash them

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out.

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Avery: Plus, solar activity will still be high as we

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come down from the peak of solar cycle 25, so

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there's a good chance for more impressive

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aurora displays. 2026 is shaping

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up to be a fantastic year for astronomy.

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Anna: It certainly is. And that's all the time we

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have for today. We've gone from corporate

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boardrooms to the edge of the visible

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universe and back.

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Avery: To our own lunar backyar joining us on

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Astronomy Daily. If you'd like even more

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space news, just visit our

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website@astronomydaily.IO or look out for

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us on social media. Just search for

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AstroDailyPod Daily Pod on all the major

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platforms. I'm Avery.

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Anna: And I'm Anna. Join us next time as we

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continue to explore the cosmos. Clear Skies.

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Stories.